


At Your Own Risk

by dracusfyre



Series: Loki Radio [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: But it's a Re-Re-Remix, FrostIron - Freeform, Fuck Or Die, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Oblivious Tony, Pining Loki, Takes Place in the middle of Thor: Ragnarok, The ravens ship it, deep space road trip, soulbond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-05-24 08:17:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14951003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracusfyre/pseuds/dracusfyre
Summary: Tony gets stranded in outer space with Loki after an ill-considered rescue attempt.  Now they have to work together to find Thor and a path back to Earth.So far, it's not working out very well.





	1. Arriving

**Author's Note:**

> When I was trying to finish this story, I kept hitting a roadblock because the beginning wasn't what it needed to be, so this has been rewritten from the version that was published earlier.

            “So it seems the whole,” Pepper gestured in the air with her fork before eating the shrimp speared on the end of it, “Loki thing is going well.  Haven’t heard you complain about it in a while.”

            “Yeah,” Tony admitted. “All in all, it’s been rather uneventful, relatively speaking.”  Once Tony had gotten used to it in the first month or so, the soul bond pretty much ran in the background, easily ignored unless Tony was more bored that usual and accidentally concentrated on it.  After the second erection from vicarious arousal – awkward, even if Loki would never know about it - Tony learned how to tune it out completely.

            “Sounds like you’ve even made a friend.”

            Tony opened his mouth to argue but hesitated.  “Maybe,” he said instead. “We’re friendly, yeah, but until the contract is up it’s hard to know how he truly feels.”

            Pepper gave him a funny look.  “Isn’t that the point of the soul bond? To know how he truly feels?”

            Tony sighed and pushed his food around on his plate. “With anyone else, I would say yes. But Loki…” he shrugged.  "Sometimes I feel like he's hiding something, but I try not to pry.”

            Pepper made a thoughtful noise at that. "He's lucky to have you.  Thor made a good choice."

            Tony barked out a laugh.  "Well, I don't know about all that, but even I can keep it together for the few days that Loki deigns to visit."

            “Have you ever tried to visit him?”

            “Well, it’s not like he has a condo in the city for me to drop by,” Tony said, then frowned. “Unless he does and just never said anything.  I think the spell has a mechanism for me to find him wherever he is, but it's got to be hard enough knowing someone is inside your head all the time without me pestering him.”

            “You could always send a raven,” Pepper smirked.  At Tony’s feet, being illicitly fed fries from Tony’s plate, Ed or maybe Allen croaked in agreement.

 

            “What do you think, guys?” Tony asked the ravens later that evening.  He was leaning on his balcony railing, looking out over the city, and next to him Ed and Allen were grooming each other and crooning quietly.  “Should I try to meet Loki halfway?  Think if I just dropped in he’d be happy to see me?”

            One of them fluffed its feathers, made a _grot_ noise, and then out of its beak came, “ _Really, Stark_?” in Loki’s dry tones, an echo of a conversation Tony and Loki’d had weeks ago.

            Tony scowled.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “ _I want to see this,_ ” the other one said in Tony’s voice, and then they both chuckled.

            “You guys are assholes," Tony said, trying to shove them off the railing, giving up when they only flapped a bit and sidled out of his reach, still cackling.  "I’m going to bed.”

            Unimpressed, the ravens went back to grooming each other.

 

            Hours later, Tony flailed awake in the middle of the night, swamped by a flood of terror so strong it left him struggling for air. “Loki,” he said with a sharp inhale, scrambling for the Iron Man suit that lived under the edge of the bed.  “Take me to-”

            He’d no more formed the intent than he felt himself teleporting, felt the unique sensation of moving perpendicular to reality, and then there was a long period of darkness.  When he stumbled into the light again with a gasp he was caught by a pair of strong hands.

            “Stark?” Tony blinked at the man who had saved him from falling and saw Loki looking at him in confusion.  “What are you doing here?”

            “Loki!” Tony said in relief, eyes skimming over Loki to see that he wasn’t injured.  “Are you okay? I felt…” Tony trailed off as what looked like a giant tree walked by. “Uh…What the hell, Loki?” He turned in a slow circle, gaping at the profusion of aliens, androids, and half-android aliens, suddenly acutely aware that he was only wearing a thin pair of pajama pants.  “Where the hell are we?”

            “A planet called Kitson.”

            “And why are we here?”

             “Well, _I’m_ here because I got thrown out of the Bifrost stream and was lucky enough not to fall through the cosmos for the rest of my life.  You’re here because…?” Loki raised an eyebrow like Tony had just interrupted him in the middle of dinner, instead of having been called halfway across the universe by the force of Loki’s panic.

            Tony thought about confronting him about the sheer terror he’d felt through the soul bond but instead he just said, “I felt something funny and wanted to make sure you weren’t doing anything shady.”  He stood next to Loki for a moment and watched the milling crowd of aliens, feeling like he was on set for a sci-fi movie with a really high special effects budget.  When more than a couple…beings turned what may have been heads in his direction, he crossed his arms over his chest and stepped closer to Loki.  “So. Are we, um, heading home soon?”

            Tony felt a curl of embarrassed frustration, exasperation, and worry through the soul bond, which all of a sudden felt dialed up to eleven.  “I can’t,” Loki said reluctantly.  “I have to find out what happened to Thor.”

            “Thor? What were you doing with Thor?” Tony asked in surprise.  Loki had been avoiding Thor like the plague lately and wouldn’t explain why.  When Loki sighed and opened his mouth, Tony said, “You know what, never mind, that already sounds like a long story full of drama. Can _I_ go home?”

            There was that embarrassed frustration again. “I…don’t know how to get to Earth from here,” Loki admitted.

            “So…we’re lost.”

            “More or less.”

            “Lost in space.”

            Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony’s carefully blank expression. “Yes…?” he said slowly, cocking his head in confusion.

            “Never mind.  So what’s the plan?”

            “Still working on it.”

            “Ah.” Loki pulled him out of the way of a motorized cart carrying crates of noisy creatures and that was when Tony realized that they were standing in the middle of some sort of market.  “Well, can part of the plan be to find a place to stay until you figure out the plan?”

            “That’s as good a place to start as any,” Loki said with a sigh. “Follow me.”

 

            About an hour later, Tony was scratching his jaw and trying to look inconspicuous while Loki bartered for a room.  They’d past a variety of establishments that Loki had turned his nose up at before exhaustion and lack of selection had finally forced them to lower their standards, and they’d been standing here for longer than Tony thought was strictly necessary while Loki negotiated in a language that sounded like someone with a head cold trying to speak French. 

            At a sudden burst of amusement across Loki Radio, Tony straightened and narrowed his eyes.  “What’s going on?” he asked. “What are they saying?”

            “Stop looking so suspicious,” Loki said instead of answering, clearly trying to suppress a smile.  “You look suspicious.”

            Tony grunted but smoothed out his features, trying to look pleasantly bored while Loki finished negotiating for their room.  When Loki stepped away from the desk and started heading deeper into the building, he smiled at the alien at the front desk, this one more humanoid than most, and got what was recognizably a leer in return.

            “Loki, is this a brothel?” He hissed as he followed Loki through a maze of corridors, all of them cramped and poorly lit.

            “No,” Loki said confidently as he opened the door to what was presumably their room.

            Tony took one look at the room, which was dominated by the bed in the center and decorated with garish bright colors and two too many mirrors. “Not a brothel, a sex hotel,” he said flatly. “Loki, did you tell that alien that I was your prostitute for the evening?”

            “It may have made that assumption.”  This time Loki made no attempt to hide his smile.

            “Which you didn’t correct.”

            “They would have only thought I was lying,” he said with a wide-eyed look of innocence. “So what’s the point?”

            “Uh huh.”  Tony looked around the room and grimaced. “I don’t even want to think about how gross this place probably is.”

            “This is the best accommodations I could find on short notice.” A line of concentration appeared on Loki’s forehead and Tony felt a strange tingle on his skin.  “The room is at least free of any biological waste or creatures,” Loki said over his shoulder, already heading for the small washroom on the other side of the bed, stripping off his armor on the way.

            “Well, I guess that’s the best we can hope for, isn’t it?” Tony sighed, too tired to argue about it.  “Just don’t use all the hot water.”


	2. Surviving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Bingo Square K1: Doing Groceries

              It wasn’t long after showering and stretching out across the ridiculously large bed that Stark’s breathing evened out and slowed as he fell asleep, having been exhausted almost beyond endurance by his impromptu journey across the galaxy.  Loki looked down at the tousled dark hair on the pillow and exhaled long and low, finally releasing the tight hold he’d had on his emotions now that Stark could no longer sense them.  He wanted to reach out and brush his fingers over the vulnerable nape of Stark’s neck, to reassure himself that he was really here, but instead he carefully climbed off the bed and left the room, closing the door silently behind him.  They had passed a drinking establishment on their way to this hotel and Loki felt the strong need to numb his feelings with liquor.

              The temperature had dropped quickly once the sun set; now it was cold enough that even Loki could see his breath in the air.  The chill had driven most people indoors so Loki had the street to himself, for the most part, and even the bar was fairly deserted.  Loki studied the bottles arrayed along the back wall of the bar until he saw one that he recognized and ordered it, taking a glass and his alcohol and retreating to a corner where he could be alone. 

              He considered the bottle of clear liquid for a while before he poured himself some.

              “Lo, there do I see my Father,” Loki said quietly, and took his first shot, grimacing at the burn as he swallowed. Seeing Stark appear from nowhere, still dazed and rumpled from sleep but ready to do battle in Loki’s defense, had filled Loki with so much relief that it had almost driven him to his knees.  Odin’s revelation, and then death, and everything that followed had left him reeling, and then Stark had arrived like a light in the darkness to hold the nightmares at bay.

              “Lo, there do I see my Mother, and my people back to the beginning,” he continued, taking another drink, swallowing with difficulty around the tightness in his throat. The only problem was that now they were stranded together indefinitely on this godforsaken planet, and hiding his unruly emotions from Stark would only become more difficult with proximity.  He’d almost rather throw himself off another Bifrost than have Stark learn of his errant infatuation and suffer through Stark's sympathy, or worse, pity. 

              He sighed, and poured another glass, staring into the depths as if it had any answers beyond a temporary surcease of sorrow. Thor had clearly blamed him for Odin's death, and who knows, perhaps he was, the same way he was indirectly responsible for Frigga's death.  And now Thor's, since it had been his rashness that had led to Hela overtaking them in the Bifrost stream.  Fates only knew how long it would take for Stark to fall as well.  “Odin Allfather,” he said, raising the glass in a toast to the empty bar. “You hypocritical bastard, I bid you take your place in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn, but rejoice for those who have died a glorious death.” He tossed the alcohol back and turned the glass over in his hand before setting it carefully down on the table.

              Perhaps if he finished the whole bottle he would be able to sleep next to Stark without embarrassing himself. 

***

              Tony woke up in the middle of the night again, this time his chest tight and heart heavy with an anguish that wasn’t his.  He reached out a hand next to him, but Loki wasn’t there; sitting up, he found the room dark and deserted.  He was obscurely disappointed to realize that Loki had gone somewhere to grieve alone, but rather than intrude where he clearly wasn’t wanted, he lay back down with a sigh. He imagined turning the volume down on Loki radio and mentally reviewed the schematics of the Mark 51 until the feeling eased and he fell back asleep.

***

              The next time he woke he found Loki reclined on the bed beside him, ankles crossed as he watched something on the small screen mounted into the wall.  He glanced over to see what Loki was looking at and was surprised to see something that looked a lot like the Weather Channel, though of course it was in units he didn't recognize and used symbols that fit an alien aesthetic.

              “I’m surprised we get channels other than alien porn,” Tony commented, rubbing his eyes and getting up to wash his face.

              “It did take a while to find something with no genitals involved,” Loki said dryly as Tony came back out. There was no sign on his face or on Loki Radio of the sadness that had woken Tony up last night so Tony didn’t bring it up.  He had a feeling any questions would be met with polite ignorance, the way Loki always did when he didn't want to talk about something.

              “So did you happen to come up with a plan while I was asleep?” Tony asked instead, sitting on the edge of the bed.  “Making plans usually starts with figuring out what we know and what we need to know. We know that we’re on some planet-“

              “Kitson,” Loki reminded him, as if it were important.

              “But Thor isn’t, right?”

              “Correct.  At least, the odds are so small as to be impossible,” Loki amended.  “We were on our way to Asgard when I was struck and thrown out of the Bifrost stream-”

              “Which is part of that dramatic story I haven’t heard yet?” 

              “Yes. I didn’t see whether Thor also fell out of the stream or if he made it to Asgard.”

              “If he made it to Asgard, wouldn’t he have come looking for you?”

              “Not necessarily.  We were being pursued,” he reminded Tony.  “If Thor made it to Asgard, our pursuer would have as well.”

              “So should we go to Asgard?”

              Loki made a face and Tony could feel his confliction.  “Going to Asgard without Thor would be tantamount to suicide,” he said after a moment. “We need to find him first.”

              “Assuming he’s not, how did you put it, falling endlessly through the cosmos?”

              “Yes, assuming that.”  The room was silent for a long time as Tony contemplated the task ahead of them.  Trying to find one man in presumably a galaxy of inhabited planets, not knowing where to start or even if he were still alive.

              “Well, shit,” Tony said eventually.

              “Indeed.” 

              “Alright, I guess we should get started,” Tony said as he slid off the bed.  “Breakfast first, though.  And I’m going to wear my suit, I’ll be damned if I’ll wander around an alien planet in my pajamas.”

***

              “Is this safe for humans?” Loki asked the fifth shopkeeper, who to Tony’s ears just made a warble and gestured with one of its three limbs.  It must have meant something to Loki, though, because he gestured to Tony and said, “People from Earth, like him.”  The next set of warbles were longer, but Loki didn’t look satisfied.

              “Can I taste it?” Tony said. “Maybe just a little bit wouldn’t be too toxic.”  The shopkeeper’s eyes moved between Tony and Loki and it warbled again.

              “He wants to try it,” Loki told it. As it made a noise and started slicing off a chunk of the strangely colored…fruit? Vegetable? Other? Loki told Tony, “He can’t understand you.  He understands me because-”

              “Let me guess. Magic?” Tony sighed and took the chunk from the shopkeeper’s tentacle-like limb. “Here goes nothing,” he said, and took a small bite.  He held it on his tongue for a moment, waiting for any numbness or itching, then rolled it slowly around his mouth.  It tasted like…Tony really had no frame of reference for what it tasted like, except that it had the density of a slightly unripe pear and was more tangy/sour than sweet.  He shrugged and swallowed and waited to die.  Loki was watching the whole process with mild curiosity, which made a small part of Tony want to fall down on the ground and pretend to have convulsions just to see what he would do.

              Instead he shrugged and said, “Seem’s safe enough.  Let’s buy a few and see what else this place has to offer.”

***

              A few hours later, Tony was watching with sympathy while Loki threw up everything he’d eaten since the beginning of time.  Tony took another bite of the strange tangy pear and said, “Wild, huh? Who would have thought it would make you sick but not me.”

              “I hate you,” Loki croaked, face deathly pale.

              “I know you do,” Tony said, hiding his smile, patting Loki on the back. "Water?”


	3. Atoning

            When Tony woke up the next morning, Loki was pacing by the door, deep in thought, hair wet and loose around his shoulders, bare feet silent on the hard plastic flooring of the room.  “For us to have any chance at success, I cannot be the only one able to communicate,” he said when he noticed Tony was awake.

            Tony glared at him blearily. “Good morning to you, too,” he said, tempted to put his head back under the pillow. "You seem to be feeling better."  When Loki exhaled with impatience, Tony sat up with a sigh.  “Fine, I'm up. Now what in the hell are you talking about?”

            Loki gestured for Tony to move closer.  When he did so, Loki started to reach for him but hesitated. “Do you trust me?” He asked with an odd note in his voice.

            “Yeah, of course,” Tony said, cocking his head to the side. “Why?”

            “This might hurt a little.” He put a palm to Tony’s forehead and suddenly his brain felt like he was trying to do abstract calculus by hand.  Tony tried to pull away but Loki’s palm followed him as the sensation intensified, his mind feeling like an overheating computer; his ears started ringing and vision grayed at the edges and the room suddenly felt like it was at the end of a long tunnel.  He swayed a little and felt Loki’s hands on his shoulders, steadying him, until the not-quite-headache eased.  Rubbing his hands over his face, he looked up to see Loki studying him with concern, looking pale and thin-lipped himself.

            “I’m okay,” he said, and meant it.  His head didn’t hurt anymore, it just felt full, like he had just finished cramming for finals. “What was that?”

            “I gave you the Allspeak,” Loki said when he was satisfied that Tony was feeling no ill effects of the spell. “Now we will be twice as effective in looking for Thor.”

            “Ok.  First, I’m going to take a shower, then I’m going to pray to an uncaring universe that we can somehow lay hands on some coffee, then you can tell me the plan. Deal?”  In lieu of an answer, Loki gestured towards the tiny bathroom, still damp from Loki’s shower, and resumed pacing.

 

            Less than an hour later, Tony stared down at the strange dark-colored liquid in the cup Loki handed him. It smelled like hot dirt. “What in the hell is this?”

            “This is the product of the only plant cultivated in this corner of the universe that produces a stimulant when brewed.” 

            Tony stared at Loki and suddenly felt like crying.  “I’m never going to get coffee again.  I’m going to die alone and uncaffeinated.”

            Loki rolled his eyes and took Tony’s cup. His brow furrowed in concentration and after a moment, he handed the cup back, this time smelling of coffee.  When Tony took a sip, it wasn’t the best cup he’d ever had – it tasted overbrewed and yet also like it came from one of those powders you put into hot water – but it was recognizably coffee.

            Now Tony wanted to cry again but for a different reason.  “I love you,” he said fervently, wrapping both hands around the cup and not noticing when Loki missed a step beside him. They were silent until Tony had finished half the cup, then he popped his neck and stretched his shoulders, finally ready to wake up.  “Ok, so what’s the plan?”

            “Whenever Thor had gone missing in the past, there were only a limited number of places he would ever be found: with the local law enforcement or with the healers. In this particular situation, I would also investigate the various places he may attempt to get a ride back to Asgard.”

            Tony made a thoughtful noise.  “Makes sense.”  When Loki laid it out like that, this quest seemed somewhat achievable, assuming Thor was even on this planet.  So we’re going to split up, cover more ground?” He gestured to his suit, which had been following them on autopilot during their quest for coffee and breakfast.  “Show me what to look for and we can pretty much split the planet up between us.”

            Loki started to speak but someone stepped into their path, bringing them both up short. It was a grey-skinned alien, almost the same height as Loki and built like a pro-wrestler, chest bared but for the straps holding two swords on his back. 

            “Begone, Child of Thanos,” the alien snarled with disdain, spitting at Loki’s feet.  Beside him, Loki stiffened, features dripping in disdain, but in his head Tony felt his rush of shame and rage. As Tony dropped his coffee and stepped backwards into the suit, Loki stalked forward and seized the alien by the throat, lifting him off his feet.  The crowd started an angry mutter and Tony raised his hand, repulsor initializing with a menacing whine and they subsided.

            “Listen well, churl. I am Loki of Asgard and I am no one’s thrall,” he said, eyes blazing while the alien made choking sounds and his feet kicked.  One hand was on Loki’s wrist, trying to break his grip, and the other reached for one of the swords on his back. As he drew it, Loki grabbed his wrist and squeezed it until the sword clattered to the pavement. “Thanos thought he could bend me to his will and now his Chitauri army is a cloud of debris orbiting a distant star.” Watching the crowd, Tony saw the angry scowls turn to looks of surprise and reluctant awe, and he really wished he knew what Loki was talking about. Well, the Chitauri part was obvious, but who the hell was Thanos and what did Loki have to do with him?

            Having made his point, Loki threw the alien into the crowd, knocking over a number of them.  The rest shrank back as he glared out into the crowd, and Tony lowered his repulsors as everyone started to melt away into the normal street traffic. 

            “Well, that was fun,” Tony said, following as Loki started to walk away.  “What to tell me what in the _hell_ it was all about?”

            “No.”

            Tony put a hand on Loki’s shoulder and, in the suit, was strong enough to make him stop and turn around. “No to your no.” He opened his face plate so he could look Loki in the eye.  “It’s me and you now, Loki.  I know I jumped into this situation without looking, but now that I’m here I have to know what I’ve gotten into.”

            “Thanos has nothing to do with Thor,” Loki said after a moment, looking away from Tony. 

            Narrowing his eyes, for the first time Tony dialed _up_ the volume on Loki Radio, trying to get past the scarily tight control Loki had on his emotions.  “But it _does_ have something to do with you and Earth,” he guessed, and when he sensed Loki’s fear and hate and shame, he stepped out of the suit and reached for Loki. 

            But Loki took a step back, avoiding his touch, still not looking at him. “Thanos sent me to Earth to retrieve the Tesseract,” he said, his words sending a chill down Tony’s spine.  He shrugged and spread his hands. “As you know, the attempt was unsuccessful.”

            Tony thought about _I’m no one’s thrall_ and _bend me to his will_ and knew that the true story was nowhere that simple, especially not for Loki to be reacting this way. As the silence between them stretched, Loki finally looked at him, chin raised and eyes guarded like he was expecting a blow.  But Tony had no desire to dig his fingers any deeper into Loki’s pain than he already had, not when the implications of Loki’s words were making his stomach sink.  “Is…” Tony swallowed.  “He's going to come back. To try again.”

            Loki hesitated for a long time before he exhaled, long and low.  “Yes. One day, he will.” He gestured around him.  “But first, we find Thor, so that when that day comes Asgard and Midgard can stand together against him.”

            “Right.” Tony blinked a couple of times and shook his head.  He realized he had been massaging his left arm and he let his hand drop to his side. “First things first.”

***

             Later that week Tony was dozing on the bed, physically and emotionally exhausted from his day, when Loki appeared between one breath and the next, bringing a storm of frustration with him.

            “No luck?” Tony asked as Loki started stripping off his armor with jerky movements.

            “If Thor is dead, I will journey to Hel myself to excoriate his ghost for putting me through this trouble,” Loki snarled. “I believe it is past time that we try another planet.”

            “You figure if we haven’t found him by now, he’s not here?”

            Loki gave Tony a skeptical look before he closed the door to the bathroom to finish undressing.  “Do you think Thor is capable of existing in a realm and not being the center of attention?” He said through the door.

            Tony had to give him that.  “Maybe if he was trying to?" He smiled at the wave of dubiousness that came over Loki Radio as the water came on.  Tony turned his head back until he was staring at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of Loki bathing. "You know what we need," he said, speaking up to be heard over the shower.  "A raven."  He sat up and turned on the television screen, muting it as he flipped through the channels.  "I don't suppose there's a way to summon one? Then we could just..."  he trailed off as a commercial caught his eye. "Holy shit," he said, then jumped to his feet and pounded on the door to the bathroom.  "Loki! Get out here!"

            “What?” Loki said crossly as he opened the door. Tony pointed at the screen.  At that second, there was a flamboyant man with garish makeup talking about the "match of the century," and right before the ad ended not just one, but two familiar faces appeared on the screen before disappearing in a burst of digital fireworks.  As the programming moved on to something else, Loki and Tony stared at each other for a long time, blinking and processing.  “You’re going to make me rescue the beast as well, aren’t you,” Loki eventually said, voice flat with resignation.


	4. Boning

          “Sure, there’s a way to get to Sakaar, it’s not like they’re trying to keep people away,” the alien said. “The Grandmaster's ship docked yesterday if you want to catch a ride.  You might have to work for it, but you two should do ok.  But you’re going to want to fit in.”  She turned to rifle through the stacks of clothes behind her.  “These should do,” she said, passing them a handful of clothes in bright, flimsy material. “Thirty units.”

          As they returned to their room to retrieve the few belongings they’d accumulated during their past week on Kitson, Tony studied the clothes they’d bought and said, “Hey, what do you think she meant by 'work for it'?"

         Loki shrugged.  "Whatever it is, we will handle it."

         "Ok." Tony took another dubious look at the clothing before hurrying to catch up. 

***

            “We really should have asked a few more questions,” Tony said weakly as they stared at the writhing mass of bodies covering most of the surfaces in the main room of the space ship. Their ride to Sakaar, the _Commodore_ , had turned out to be a sleek, flamboyant gold ship, looking like a space version of a Ferrari. They’d had suspiciously few problems boarding, just a brief scan for weapons by a man who had the bored air of someone who had seen it all before, and now Tony had an idea why.

            Loki made a slightly strangled noise of assent. In retrospect, the clothing the alien had sold them should have been the biggest clue. Loki flat out refused to wear them, but Tony figured that when on an alien planet, do as the aliens do. They had seen plenty of people wearing similar clothes so Tony could be forgiven for thinking that this was the norm, but Loki had never mentioned that Kitson as a planet was primarily known for its brothels and thriving prostitution industry, so the ensemble was…immodest at best. 

            They both backed up into the hallway and Tony tried to scrub his brain clean of what he’d just seen.  There was a long silence between them as the sounds coming from the room became more disconcertingly rhythmic. When the sounds finally ended, a man emerged from the room, makeup smudged and his clothes in a disarray. 

            “Well hello,” the man said when he spotted them, rubbing his hands together.  Tony assumed that this was the Grandmaster; he recognized the face from the advertisement with Thor and Bruce and the man certainly had the air that this was his ship.  But he was surprised when Loki tensed beside him and a deep wariness came over Loki Radio as he approached.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of you before, I would remember such an, ah,” he gestured at them, eyes lingering on Tony in his ridiculous clothes. “Interesting…couple? Are you a couple?”

            Tony really didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes so he sidled closer to Loki, who without missing a beat put a hand on the back of his neck.  His thumb idly rubbed at the skin under his ear and Tony surprised himself by shivering at the contact, goosebumps breaking out all down his arms.   “He is mine, yes,” Loki said lazily.  “Thank you for your hospitality. I saw the advertisement regarding your upcoming gladiatorial fight and couldn’t resist.”

            “Oh!” The man’s eyes lit up with satisfaction at the mention of Thor. “Yes, yes, that new fellow…he is a feisty one.  Should be a good fight, it has lots of people riled up, including myself, ha," he said with a smile.  Then something over Tony’s shoulder drew his gaze.  “You fellows enjoy the festivities and, ah, don’t be a stranger.” He didn’t wait for their answer as he brushed by them, already distracted by someone in another room. A few steps behind him trailed a woman who glared at them both as she passed. 

            When they were gone, Loki's hand left the back of Tony’s neck and Tony felt colder for its absence. After a moment, the sounds from the other room started up again.  "Let's explore the rest of the ship," Tony suggested, and Loki agreed with alacrity.

            There wasn't much to the rest of the ship. 

            They found a spacious, luxurious bathroom that was occupied by something aquatic that made whale noises when it was (presumably) feeling good, and a small galley with a bigger dining area attached.  There was a decent sized spread in the dining area, which was pretty standard for orgies, in Tony's experience; some of the food he recognized and sampled, mostly to have something to do with his hands and to have an excuse to stay in the dining room where at least no one was actively having sex.  Over one table, however, was a live hologram of the events in the main room and Tony did not feel guilty at all for taking the seat that would put his back to it and forcing Loki to face it. 

            "So how long is the ride to Sakaar?" Tony asked, tasting something that had the taste and smell of a nutty cheese.  Loki had turned down the food and was determinedly trying not to look at the hologram over Tony's shoulder.

             "I'm not sure.  At least a few hours." Suddenly Loki gave Tony a sultry smile that didn't reach his eyes.  "The Grandmaster's bodyguard is looking at us again," he said, trailing his fingers along the back of Tony's hand. 

             “Yeah, she's been giving us the stink-eye like she suspects something," Tony said, voice low. "I think... I think we're going to have to participate or they will know we aren’t here for the party.” 

             “Absolutely not,” Loki said immediately.   “I would rather spend the entire journey to Sakaar in a prison cell.”

            “Does it look like this is the kind of ship that has a prison cell?” Tony hissed, trying to keep his face friendly.  He stood and tossed his plate into the trash, eager to get away from the angry woman watching them suspiciously. “They will probably throw us out of the airlock and be done with it.  That lady looks like she only needs an excuse,” he said as he followed Loki out of the dining room. 

            The look on Loki's face when he realized Tony was right was priceless. With an almost silent sigh, he peered back into the orgy room, looking over the various aliens as if trying to find the one that was the least objectionable. 

            Tony had to admit that their prospects looked a little dim. They weren't the only humanoids on the ship, but the only beings that weren't already…occupied had either too many limbs or not enough.  For some he wasn’t even sure what orifice or appendage that was supposed to be used for the act, or whether he would get some weird space disease or bear something’s eggs.  “Loki,” he said eventually, trying not to sound desperate, “Would you like to have sex with me?”

            Loki stared at him for a long moment before turning to look out of one of the windows. “It suddenly occurs to me that as a Frost Giant, I could probably survive the coldness of space,” he mused. “The lack of oxygen would be inconvenient, but-“

            “Don't be so dramatic,” Tony said, elbowing him in the side. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

            Loki stared at Tony helplessly.  He knew what would happen.  What would happen is that having only one chance to touch and be touched by Tony Stark would drive him mad, more so than he already was.  It had been hard enough to endure living in close quarters with him, to feel the warmth of his body next to his at night and see him every day, without also having to live with the knowledge of what Stark sounded like when he was well pleasured.   “You are going to be the death of me,” he growled. 

            “A little death, maybe,” Tony said. “Look, given the circumstances, I'll understand if you have performance anxiety. Remember, one out of five-mmph.”

            “Enough, Stark,” Loki said, hand over Tony’s mouth. “You need not goad me into it.”  Glancing around, Loki found a padded nook that would give them a bit of privacy without appearing as if they were trying to hide.

            Tony smiled victoriously as Loki started pulling off his clothes. “Don’t look so smug, Stark,” Loki said as he shrugged off his surcoat.  “By the time I’m finished with you, you're not even going to remember your own name.”

            “Those are pretty bold words, Elsa. I hope you can...”  Tony almost swallowed his tongue as Loki unlaced his shirt and pulled it over his head. 

            Loki raised his eyebrows when Tony trailed off, then it was his turn to smile.  “See something you like, Stark?”

            "Uh,” Tony said articulately.  “I’m just...You always seemed so...” Tony was going to say ‘skinny’ but then he realized that Loki only looked thin compared to Thor. Standing here with his clothes off, Tony realized that he wasn't skinny, he was _lean_.  He was built like a runner, all long, rangy muscles, broad shoulders and narrow hips.  His smooth, flawlessly pale skin made him look like a marble statue come to life.  Tony realized that he’d never seen Loki this undressed and for some reason it was throwing him off balance.  “Yeah,” he said finally. “Yeah, I do.” Tony’s hands twitched with the desire to touch, but he was suddenly self-conscious about his rough, calloused hands and body full of scars. 

            Tony finally dragged his eyes up to meet Loki’s to find him looking at him oddly, head tilted and eyes unreadable. Loki Radio was no help either; it was on lockdown and trying to pry past Loki’s control felt…intrusive, given the circumstances. “What?” he asked, hands belatedly going to his own clothes, though he was practically naked already.

            Loki shook his head. “Nothing,” he said softly, reaching out to trail his fingers over the scars where the arc reactor used to be; Tony inhaled sharply at the shiver and goosebumps that followed their path. At the simple touch, Tony’s heart was already pounding, and his hands shook a little as he undressed.  When he was done, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, somehow feeling more vulnerable than just being naked would warrant.

            Somehow sensing that, Loki moved his hands to frame his face, body moving to block the casual observer’s view into the nook. “Are you sure about this, Stark?”

            Tony’s mouth opened to say _of course_ , maybe make a joke about the many often public indiscretions of his youth, but the seriousness in Loki’s eyes made him pause. Tony swallowed, suddenly feeling out of his depth; what had started as something from necessity had quickly become much more than that.  He brought his hands up to circle Loki’s wrists, and the strong, steady feel of Loki’s pulse under his fingers grounded him. Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to Loki’s palm and felt something slot into place. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said.  “I’m all yours, Loki.”

             Loki’s breath caught at the soft, sincere smile on Stark’s face, the soft brush of his lips against his palm. “All mine, hmm?” He said, smiling around the pain in his chest; he wanted so dearly for that to be true, but he supposed it was true enough, at least until they reached Sakaar.  “I suppose I do finally have you at my mercy,” he mused, hands coming down to flatten over Stark’s shoulders, thumbs and forefingers circling his throat.  Stark’s skin was so warm, and the contrast between his dusky skin and Loki’s own paleness was mesmerizing.

            “Was this all part of your master plan?” Stark asked with amusement, seemingly content to let Loki look his fill. His hands were still on Loki’s wrists, the most pleasant of shackles.

            “And if it was?” Loki said with all seriousness, glancing up to see Stark’s whiskey brown eyes watching him. Being the focus of Stark’s attention was intoxicating; it was what had drawn Loki back to Midgard time and again, drawn like a moth to a flame despite the humiliation of having his every emotion on display.  

            “Then you’ve done a brilliant job.” Stark’s breath hitched a little when Loki leaned in close and pressed a kiss under his ear.  Loki moved one hand to cup the back of Stark’s head, fingers tangling in the soft curls, while the other slid down to hold Stark’s hip, thumb pressing against the arch of bone there.  There was a sharp inhale as Loki’s mouth moved in hot, open-mouthed kisses down his throat to his shoulder, tongue flicking out to taste the salt on Stark’s skin, then Stark said, voice a little breathless, “And, ah, what do you plan to do with me now?”

            “Hmm.” Loki’s voice was a low rumble as he pretended to think.  His thumb stroke idly, teasingly, along the crease of Stark’s hip, tantalizingly close to his groin, while the other hand tugged Stark’s head back, gently but inexorably. “The invincible Iron Man, alone, naked, and at my disposal.” Stark’s eyes were wide and dark, pupils blown, as Loki loomed over him, but there was no fear in them, only heat. Warmth bloomed, curling in his chest and through his veins.  Loki bit Stark’s jaw and breathed in his ear, “I believe I shall ruin you for all others.” He felt Stark’s full body shudder at that and smiled.

            “That…” Stark’s voice was rough. He cleared his throat and started over. “That sounds like a dastardly plan alright.” He went easily as Loki pressed him down against the pillows that lined the padded nook, looking like every fantasy Loki tried to pretend he didn’t have.

            Loki followed him down, shedding the rest of his clothes as he knelt over him.  His hair fell over his shoulders, brushing Stark’s skin and making shiver. For long, liquid minutes that bled together into sweet sensation, Loki’s hands and mouth moved over Stark’s body, mapping out every scar and freckle, memorizing him lest this be the only chance he was given to see him this way.  A press of teeth to the ladder of Stark’s ribs, the flick of a tongue to taste the hollow of his throat; Loki wanted to make a mark on him, to lay some kind of claim, but he didn’t have the right, however temporary it would be.  The soft, sweet noises coming from Stark weren’t loud enough to drown out the sound of conversation behind them, the steps of people passing by, all of which reminded him that Stark was only here out of necessity.

            When Loki finally put his mouth on the hot length of Stark’s erection, Stark cursed raggedly, hands flying up to cup Loki’s jaw. “Christ, Loki,” he said, sounding dazed. Loki’s eyelids slid closed as he listened with pleasure to Stark’s increasingly desperate cries, then to his surprise urgent hands were pulling him up. “Kiss me,” Stark said murmured, voice deep and needy. “I want to taste your mouth.”

            Loki crawled up Stark’s body, eager to comply. Stark’s kiss was deep and wet, tongue thrusting hungrily inside Loki’s mouth. Loki made a sound deep in his chest and pressed him back against the pillows; he’d wanted to drag this out, make it last as long as possible, but he couldn’t wait any longer.  He’d already been wanting for so long.

            Straddling Stark’s hips, he took him in hand and sat back, taking him into his body in one smooth glide.  For a few moments his only movements were small and exploratory, adjusting to the feeling of fullness.  Below him, Stark was waiting patiently, body vibrating with eagerness, eyes rapt on Loki’s face, hands stroking over the long muscles of Loki’s thighs and up his back, anywhere he could reach.  Loki could feel the fine trembling in his limbs as he fought not to move. Every touch of his calloused palms stoked the fire under Loki’s skin, lighting him up from the inside.

            “You can move, Stark,” Loki said, already rocking his hips. “You won’t hurt me.”

            Breathlessly, Stark obeyed, his hands bright spots of heat on Loki’s skin. He was so lovely like this, cheeks and chest flush with arousal, the hair at his temples dark with sweat, muscles moving sinuously as he thrust up into Loki’s body.  While he was watching Stark, Stark’s eyes were roving all over, lingering on the point where they were connected, skimming over Loki’s body and leaving heat in their wake.  When his eyes finally met Loki’s he surged up, burying his fingers in Loki’s hair and recapturing his mouth. “Let me feel you,” he murmured against Loki’s lips, stomach muscles flexing as he thrust. It took him a moment, but when Loki realized what Stark wanted, his breath caught and he shook his head in mute denial. “Come on, Loki,” Stark said hoarsely. He took one of Loki’s hands and pressed it over his heart. “Tell me I’m not alone here.”

 _Not alone_.  Loki pulled back and saw the impossible truth in Tony’s eyes; with his characteristic reckless bravery he wasn’t hiding anything, he let him see it all.

            “You don’t have to hide from me,” Stark said, his words fast and breathless, matching the desperate movements of his body seeking release. His gaze was steady on Loki’s. “I want you, all of you, everything you’ll give me-”

            Loki cut off his terrifying words with what was less a kiss than the meeting of two mouths, lips pressing against each other gracelessly as they shared panting breaths.  Then with a barely heard sigh, he released his iron grip on the soulbond, letting Stark feel every wayward emotion that had been burning in Loki's chest for months, years even.

            The effect on Stark was immediate and unmistakable. His back arched and his fingers tightened; Loki had a moment to wish that Stark could make marks on _him_ and then Stark was gasping, “ _Loki_ ,” his voice full of awe.  He said it again, urgently this time, then it became a chant as the smooth movements of Stark’s body grew desperate and disorganized.  Loki took Stark’s grasping hands in his own and let Stark’s release drag him over the edge as well.

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dracusfyre)


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